Wednesday, August 3, 2016

A mid-summer bouquet and a summer collection

The lady at our church, who does the table arrangements for the fund-raising teas, made pretty bouquets of white daisies and giant violet-blue hydrangea blooms, a couple of weeks ago. I thought they were quite pretty, the white daisies adding just that pop to liven up the hydrangeas.

A few days ago, I put together my own bouquet for our kitchen table, fashioned after hers.

In the bottom of this vase, I keep my collection brown and white, washed, sea glass. Whenever I go to the beach, I look for sea glass.

I'm partial to the blues, greens and whites. I've collected these pieces, above, over the last 25 years. I keep them in a bowl on display in the living room.

I have other nature collections, from the other seasons, on display in our home, also. Collecting from nature is not only frugal, but I think trinkets from the outdoors are some of our loveliest home decor pieces, connecting us to the natural world, each time we look at them. And while these pieces of glass were once man-made. It's their life in the sea that has given them their character and beauty.

So true...I collected beach glass too. But my back problem prevents me from walking on sand, so I have just a small collection. One piece of beach glass is beautiful, but a collection over 25 years represents so much value. That's the way I look at handmade things too, and why it warms my heart to use what I have made.

Hi Ruthie,I don't know if you know this, but hydrangeas do best in moist soil, and as you live where summers are quite hot, in partial shade. Our best hydrangea was under the eaves of the house (some shade), but right next to the outdoor faucet, where water leaked from the hose/faucet connection most of the summer. So, just choose a spot with more moist soil and a bit of shade. I do love them, too! Their blooms last and last.

In the northern lower peninsula of Michigan, by the shores, people search for Petosky stones (//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petoskey_stone). We took the kids camping up there last summer to find them--I have heard that they are more rare than they used to be but I'm not sure how true that is.

As you might guess, I love nature objects, too. However, some of my collection stays in the garage. I'm not sure if it's clean enough to come in. But I feel like I have my own little museum with bones, nests, snake skins, dried flowers, leaves, etc.

If I lived near a beach, I would definitely be a collector of sea glass. It's so pretty. Over 25 years, you must have quite a collection. I have heard that it'a harder to find these days since it became popular a few years ago. Do you find that true in your area?

I live in the NC Outer Banks and it is definitely harder to find sea glass nowadays than 20 years ago when I first started collecting. Like Lili, I'm partial to the blues, though they are much harder to find. But I love the hunt and am lucky enough to have a pretty good sized collection. Even found a piece of very rare red!

Hi live and learn,I can imagine some of your nature collections. Very interesting.Where I find sea glass has changed. Some beaches just don't have as much as others in my area. But every time I go to the beach, I find at least one small piece.

Lynn, I've never seen a red piece. The "rarest" I've found is the cobalt blue one. They can be such beautiful pieces.

Lili, I don't know if you've ever seen the beautiful book Pure Sea Glass by Richard LaMotte. It's a lovely, informative book. Would be worth seeing if your library has it. In it, he lists red, teal and turquoise as some of the "extremely rare" colors. The cobalt and cornflower blues along with aqua, citron and purple are in the "rare" category. I always look for my blues and get excited when I find one:)

I learned so much from the book. He shows what the different sea glass pieces were in those former lives. The pretty cobalt comes from milk of magnesia bottles (which I remember as a child)and old poison bottles. I hope you can find it. It's a great book! It stays on my coffee table:)

Lynn, I checked Amazon for that book, and then found the authors website. I was able to read a little bit about the background to the book, and will definitely check our library. Sounds very interesting. I do remember those old MoM bottles. Wow! That was ages ago. What a great coffee table book for the summer months, especially. Or a gift to a host/hostess. Thanks for the recommendation.

Just lovely! Hydrangeas are my favorite flower. Yours are just spectacular such a lovely color. I am sureyou know this that you can start them from cuttings. They make lovely gifts. I miss having them in the yardthank you for sharing yours.Patti

Hi Patti,My neighbor took cuttings, put them in water and had plants ready for soil in about 2 months. She gave one of them to me. It's a great way to increase the number of plants in the yard. I should do that this summer. Thanks for the inspiration!